The silence after the storm was unbearable.
No blaring sirens. No tremors. No rips in the sky. Just the eerie quiet of a realm holding its breath.
Kael hovered above the altar, glowing softly with residual power. Around him, the Drift Core shimmered, resonating with newly balanced energy. For the first time since the beginning of the saga, the multiverse wasn't tearing itself apart.
Elara stirred, rising slowly. Korr caught her, steadying her shaking frame.
"Is it… over?" she asked.
Kael landed gently beside her.
"For now," he said. "The Architect and the Firstbreaker were not destroyed. Just… diffused. Returned to potential form. Like smoke before a fire."
Lira looked around. "Fracturefront is stabilizing. The entropy storm is gone. Quantum variance is down 92%. We did it."
Kael shook his head. "You did. All of you."
The echoes began to fade—each one saluting Kael before vanishing into the Drift, returned to their realms or finally given rest. One lingered a moment longer—the version of Kael who had died during the Riftfall Crisis.
"You did good," the echo said, his voice hoarse. "Make it count."
Then he too was gone.
The team returned to the Helix Storm, orbiting above the slowly mending Fracturefront. Engineers scrambled to rebuild systems. Medics treated wounded crew. Scientists logged readings that would take generations to fully comprehend.
Inside the command chamber, Kael addressed them all.
"We stand at the edge of something new. The Drift has stabilized, but the multiverse is still recovering. And without the Architect or the Firstbreaker to guide the extremes… it's up to us now."
Elara frowned. "You mean govern the multiverse?"
"No," Kael said. "Steward it."
He gestured, and a new map projected itself—one that showed not just realms, but their interconnected nature. Threads of emotion, decisions, identity. It wasn't a map of space—it was a map of meaning.
"The Shattered Realms are healing. But the choices we make now—will shape what comes next."
Astra smiled faintly. "So… what do we call this new era?"
Kael turned to her.
"The Drift Age."
They all stood in silence, absorbing what they'd survived—and what they'd created.
Korr cracked a grin. "Well, I've got at least three timelines to apologize to."
Lira chuckled. "I think one of my variants married a dragon. That'll be awkward."
Kael turned to Elara, his gaze soft. "You brought me back from oblivion. If I could return the favor, I would."
"You already have," she said. "The multiverse is still here. That's enough."
Kael nodded.
But as he looked out the viewport into the swirling, infinite expanse beyond, a flicker of unease crossed his face.
Because even in balance… danger remained.
Not from the Architect.
Not from the Firstbreaker.
But from something deeper, older.
Something that had never wanted to be found.
The shadows of reality were stirring again.
But that… was a story for another day.